The Veteran's claim for service connection for sleep apnea is denied as there is no evidence of a current disability related to an in-service event, injury, or disease.,Service connection for bladder cancer is also denied due to the lack of any documented onset during active duty and insufficient medical evidence linking it to service.,The Veteran's claim for erectile dysfunction secondary to prostate cancer is remanded as there is no objective evidence of a current deformity of the penis that would warrant a compensable rating under Diagnostic Code 7522.,Service connection for prostate cancer, status post radical retropubic prostatectomy, remains denied with an initial noncompensable rating and no effective date provided.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's service treatment records do not show any complaints or findings related to sleep apnea, bladder cancer, erectile dysfunction, or prostate cancer. The earliest documented evidence of these conditions is many years after separation from active duty.,There is insufficient medical evidence linking the Veteran’s current diagnoses of bladder cancer and prostate cancer to his military service. The earliest documentation of bladder cancer was in 2012, over 37 years post-service.,The Veteran has not provided objective evidence of a current deformity of the penis that would warrant a compensable rating under Diagnostic Code 7522 for erectile dysfunction secondary to prostate cancer.,Service connection for prostate cancer remains denied as there is no effective date provided, indicating that the claim may still be pending or further development is needed.
- Claimed conditions
- sleep apnea, bladder cancer, erectile dysfunction, prostate cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 24, 2019
- Citation
- 19105490
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including prostate cancer and related disabilities, urinary incontinence, sleep apnea, hypertension, varicose veins, lumbar spine disability, hip arthritis, shoulder arthritis, ankle arthritis, knee strain, knee replacement, and hand arthritis. The only condition granted was a 10 percent rating for a fracture of the right proximal first metacarpal.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for sleep apnea as there is no evidence of an in-service injury or disease, and no competent evidence linking the condition to service.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for asthma and remanded claims for insomnia and sleep apnea. Other conditions were denied.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for prostate cancer, related to in-service exposures at Camp Lejeune.
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